The present invention relates to a cable tray used for supporting an elongate run of cables in a building. Electric power cables, communications cables, computer cables, signal cables, and the like cables typically are supported either at or above a ceiling or at or beneath a floor as they pass from room to room or area to area in a building. The cables are supported in an elongate cable tray which defines the pathway for the cables. Cable trays take various forms, but generally comprise an open top receptacle, e.g. a U-shaped receptacle, of a width sufficient to carry all of the cables, and the tray follows a continuous pathway, with periodic bends and turns. The cable trays may be suspended from above, may be supported from below, e.g. on short feet, rods or outboard floor supports, and may be secured to a wall or vertical surface through the use of brackets. The present invention is particularly directed to a side supported cable tray which is in itself mountable to a wall.
Fabrication and later installation of a cable tray involves direct labor costs and direct material costs, which obviously should be kept at a minimum, while an adequately strong, light enough in weight, variable in length and adjustable in direction cable tray is produced. A material too light in weight may bend or break over the long stretches of the cable tray. A cable tray preferably has a minimum number of attachments or connections between adjacent sections or parts in order to minimize costs. A cable tray also should require a minimum number of hanging or suspension devices also in order to minimize the costs of installation.